[3.5/3.0] Collaborative Effort: Collection of Round-by-Round Monster Tactics

[Pbartender]

Ok... Sorry guys. Rereading my posts, I think I came off a little pissier than I intended. I just want to make certain that DMs using this sort of guide know that in the worst circumstance, their players could be doing that. Novice DMs (the ones most likely to use this), might not be able to judge player quality as well as more experienced DMs. I myself have been playing and DMing a very long time. I've had excellent players, and I've had some very "sorry excuses" for players. As such, I tend to plan for the worst, when I DM, and play my cards close until I know otherwise.

It was meant to be a helpful warning, not a cease and desist order, though it may have sounded like one. Sorry again.

That said... I think Destan and Wippit have the right ideas here. Round by round tactics are great, so long as they provide enough expaination and contigiencies to be useful. Tactics that simply state actions and spells to be used each round can too easily be derailed.

Give me a few minutes, and I'll even come up with my own contribution to the effort.

If no one else minds, I think I might tackle the Dragons...

 

[PattonDM]

Did anybody notice that with the change to the Darkness spell in 3.5 that drow become a bit nastier with their tactics.

Now that it creates "shadowy darkness" the Drow can actually set ambushes by hiding in their darkness and being able to sneak attack with more efficiency.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Destan - I noticed you didn't use the aboleth's Project Image in it's defensive tactics section. I believe the aboleth could project Enslave through it's image, if it didn't want to approach close enough to slime the victims.

PS add skum as well!

 

[coyote6]

Possible DM Fiat #2: I’m a bit confused as to the skill points indicated in the 3.5 MM. I think the worm should have 17 (1 per HD, minimum due to its low Int). The book lists three skills: Hide +3, Listen +5, Spot +5. Two points to Spot and Listen are from the worm’s Alertness feat. The Hide check gets a -8 penalty due to its Huge size (but also gets a +8 bonus when the worm is within its own environment).

+10 bonus, actually. Situational bonuses like that aren't added into listed skills (since the situation might not always be present).

The worm has Dex & Wis modifiers of 0, so it spends 3 skill points on Spot, 3 on Listen, and 11 on Hide (11 - 8 size = +3), a total of 17 points. So that's correct.

 

[coyote6]

Did anybody notice that with the change to the Darkness spell in 3.5 that drow become a bit nastier with their tactics.

Now that it creates "shadowy darkness" the Drow can actually set ambushes by hiding in their darkness and being able to sneak attack with more efficiency.

I don't think that works; darkvision doesn't let the drow see through the concealment of that "shadowy illumination" any better than any other elf, low-light vision (oddly!) doesn't seem to have any effect in areas of "shadowy illumination", and any concealment makes sneak attacks impossible.

 

[GuardianLurker]

And a plug....

And this is another example of the kind of thing I'm proposing in the 3.0a SRD. (See the thread http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58060 )

I'll come up with a contribution myself when I get back to my books.

 

[Verdigris]

As a very lazy DM with a brain addled by years of marijuana abuse and must see TV, I wholeheartedly support this project. If combat gets "mechanical" its only because you, the DM, was too unimaginative to realize that a tactical breakdown is just a SUGGESTION. Roll yourself a will save, fudge the roll so you succeed, and alter the tactics in such a way that "Combat Plan Lambda" fails. In the meantime, keep the posts coming. I will do my share by providing a breakdown of combat tactics for Goblins:

1. Draw notched, rusty scimitar.
2. Narrow eyes upon foe.
3. Yell obsceneties in broken common.
4. CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!

 

[Destan]

The worm has Dex & Wis modifiers of 0, so it spends 3 skill points on Spot, 3 on Listen, and 11 on Hide (11 - 8 size = +3), a total of 17 points. So that's correct.

And there you have it. Thanks coyote!

And (Psi)SeveredHead - good thinking, too, on the Project Image. I felt I bit off a little too much to chew when I picked Aboleth right off the bat. Their illusionary abilities make them a difficult - and highly diverse - opponent.

D

 

[DaveMage]

Side note: the Creature Collection Revised, being released in a few weeks, will have tactics for most, if not all, of its 200 monsters.

You mean, "just released". Amazon.com shipped it out to me yesterday...

 

[Winterthorn]

Some other publishers are doing this too!

Hey Destan and friends, I thought I'd let you folks know there's another product on D&D monsters already on the market that features round-by-round tactics for almost all 125+ critters presented: Dangerous Denizens: The Monsters of Tellene by Kenzer & Co (it's a Kingdoms of Kalamar related product tuned to 3.5's rules and format).

I picked this up recently, and I was very pleased to find tactics included. While many monsters in this product are "originals" keyed to the setting, a lot of them are actually variants of those found in the 3.5 MM; thus many ideas for tactics are transferable (such as those used by the Aquatic Dragons or Twilight Dragons native to Tellene) as a model for one's favourite monsters found in the 3.5 MM (like metallic dragons).

I hope that will help some!

-W.